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What's topping Weekly option activity

One of the newest innovations in our market has been the Weekly
options, which are quickly gaining in popularity among major
institutional traders. These instruments let investors play for
short-term moves more efficiently and cheaply than standard
expirations. Below is some of the noteworthy activity today.

Amazon.com (
AMZN
):
Options expiring tomorrow account for 35 percent of all volume. The
big trade early was an investor rolling the 160 calls to the 165
strike, but later in the session there was buying in the 165 and
160 puts. AMZN is down 1.2 percent to $155.07 but is up 27 percent
in the last month.

Baidu.com (
BIDU
):
Options expiring tomorrow account for 28 percent of all activity.
The big trades occurred in the 100 puts, which were both purchased
and sold, although buyers seemed to lead the activity. The 105
calls were also sold. BIDU is down 2.05 percent to $101.59 but is
up 31 percent in the last month.

Google (
GOOG
):
Options expiring tomorrow account for 34 percent of all volume. The
main activity has resulted from investors selling the 520 calls and
530 calls. GOOG is down 0.75 percent to 523.74 but is up 16 percent
in the last month.

Netflix (
NFLX
):
Options expiring tomorrow account for 32 percent of all volume. The
main activity resulted from investors selling the 160 puts and the
165 puts, which reflects confidence the downside is limited. NFLX
is down 3.83 percent to $164.10 but is up 34 percent in the last
month.

BP (
BP
):
Options expiring tomorrow account for 22 percent of all volume. The
big trade was the purchase of 4,000 40 calls and the sale of 2,000
39 calls. The activity came against open interest, so it could have
been a roll up or the closing of a bullish ratio spread.
Regardless, either explanation reflects an upside bias. BP rose 2
percent to $40.80.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The NASDAQ OMX Group, Inc.

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